Offer of Dragon Blood
by Will Peterson
Summary: To thank him for his service in the Nohr-Hoshido war, Princess Corrin makes Silas the offer of a lifetime. She offers him something powerful, world-changing. Something that he knows he could never accept.


_The concept of gifting dragon blood comes up a couple times in Fates, as I recall. During the Hidden Truths 2 DLC, Anankos gives dragon blood to Selena, Laslow, and Odin to let them temporarily activate Dragon Veins. The First Blood is also a DLC item you can obtain and give to one of your units in the main game, though unfortunately no character comments on receiving this unbelievable gift._

 _I'm not sure if it's exactly the same thing, but there's also an instance late in Revelations, when Gunter mentions that King Garon once offered him dragon's blood (which Gunter refused)._

 _The idea that one who has dragon blood can offer it to another . . . I found this so interesting that I wanted to write out some of my thoughts on it, which eventually turned into this conversation between Corrin and Silas._

 _As always, thank you for reading. I truly appreciate everyone who grants attention to any of my stories._

 **Offer of Dragon Blood**

Silas kept turning his head right and left as he walked through the hallways of the Hoshidan royal castle, trying to keep track of his surroundings. This vast building was still new to him. He could easily get lost within it if he didn't pay attention.

The war between Hoshido and Nohr had ended recently. Silas had been present to watch the coronation of the new King Ryoma, and now he was staying in Castle Shirasagi for a few weeks, at the request of Princess Corrin. Silas had accepted the invitation gratefully, glad to spend this time with his dear friend.

Corrin had made her choice already: to reside in Hoshido permanently. She was a princess of this land by birthright, after all. And she'd decided to embrace that destiny. Silas, however, intended to return to Nohr before long. Despite fighting for Hoshido during the war, he still saw Nohr as his home. With his best friend living here, though, he would probably be coming back for many visits in the future, and so he tried to memorize the layout of the castle as he walked its halls.

Finally, he came to his destination: the banquet hall. One of several, actually. The castle housed a number of them. This one was sized a bit more modestly than the giant chamber where grand events, such as the king's coronation and subsequent feast, took place. With a push, the colorful double doors slid open, revealing the room inside.

Princess Corrin sat at the head of the long rectangular table. She was the only occupant of the many chairs in the dining room. She'd been idly tapping her fingers on the table's surface, but when Silas entered the room, she looked up and then smiled at him. "Silas! Good evening! I'm so glad you came to see me."

"Of course. The messenger told me that you requested my presence here. I'm hardly one to refuse the summons of a princess. Or my best friend, for that matter." He smiled back at her. She was still very much the bright, energetic childhood friend he always knew. And yet, seeing her seated at a banquet table, in an elegant castle, made him aware that she was also a royal. Though he closed the door behind him, he remained standing. He did not take a seat at the table with her, despite the abundance of chairs.

"Sorry if I dragged you a little out of your way," Corrin said. "I planned to have you meet me in my room, but big brother Ryoma told me that it wouldn't be appropriate. Pretty strange, right? I mean, you and every other soldier used to visit my treehouse all the time in the astral plane. But he insisted, so I chose a more neutral room."

Silas nodded. "I think the king made a good choice. Now that the war is over, you're going back to being a proper princess." _Actually,_ he thought, _it's more like she's being a proper princess for the first time. Until recently, she's been hidden in the Northern Fortress, unseen by the people._

Corrin's shoulders dipped as she sighed. "And that means I have to be more mindful of decorum and such, right? My brother said so."

"Pretty much. When war is raging, the concepts of noble and commoner tend to get drowned out in the clang of steel. But when war is gone, the layers of society return. So, uh, yeah. You can't really invite a man who's not family into your room, especially this late in the evening." As Silas said this, he glanced toward the window, where the darkness of night covered the scenery outside. The sun sets even in Hoshido, he mused.

"I have a lot to learn," Corrin said, resting her chin in her hand. Her eyes flickered toward the window, the same spot that he'd glanced at, but her mind seemed far away from the sight. "But this is the peace that we fought so hard for, after all. It's certainly better than war."

"Indeed it is."

"It's so nice to see you in casual wear," she remarked, looking back at him. "You're not wearing armor from sunup to sundown anymore."

"Thanks. I could say the same to you." Really, the same applied to most soldiers. With the war over, everyone was returning home to their families and a well-deserved rest. During Silas's strolls through the nearby town, he'd marveled at how he could walk so far without seeing anyone decked out in armor or carrying a weapon. Peace suited the kingdoms.

"You've really been a hard worker, Silas. During the war, every time I saw you throwing yourself into your training, or fighting fiercely in battle, I was greatly impressed."

"Well, that is my duty as a knight."

The conversation abruptly fell quiet after that. Minutes ticked by. Silas kept waiting for Corrin to add more, but once again she seemed to gaze into the air at something invisible. He did not know what to say himself. He shifted a little on his feet.

"Okay," Corrin said suddenly, "I guess I should reveal the reason I summoned you here. It wasn't just to chat."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I wanted to offer you something. You know about the Dragon Vein power that my siblings and I can use, right?"

"Of course. You and the other members of the royal family displayed your amazing abilities many times during the war. It helped us out of several tight situations." He wasn't sure where she planned to go with this conversation. What could she offer him using her Dragon Vein abilities? He knew she was powerful, but he didn't have any particular forest or mountain in mind that he wanted to level.

"And you know that it's possible for a royal to bestow that power onto someone else, right?"

". . . What?"

She started speaking quickly, excited to share this information. "I can offer you dragon's blood. You can gain the ability to use Dragon Veins, just like the royals. A small dose will grant you access to that power for a few years. Some more and you could retain it for much of your lifetime. It can even be passed onto your children, whenever you have them. I just discovered this recently – I've been doing a lot of reading and studying and learning a ton of history from hours of conversations with my siblings."

A memory dropped into Silas's mind. He realized this was not the first time he'd heard of something like this. He had always written it off as the tall tales of gossiping soldiers and castle servants. But he had indeed heard stories that Nohr's King Garon once offered dragon's blood to the Great Knight Gunter, as an award for valor in battle.

Corrin kept going, as if continuing Silas's train of thought. "I heard that some of the kings and queens of the past have rewarded their most valiant knights with dragon's blood. And I immediately thought of you. You've been so loyal to me for such a long time. You were a cherished childhood friend who risked facing execution to take me on a picnic outside the Northern Fortress. You worked hard to become a knight just so you could see me again. You fought bravely in the war, risking your life in battle again and again. You even turned against your home country in order to pledge your service to me – I know that can't have been easy, however much you care about me. I'm so grateful to you, Silas. I have as much gratitude for you as there is water in the ocean. And I want to give you something in return for all you've done."

"Corrin . . . I'm flattered, really." In fact, her praise overwhelmed him so much that his heart was racing. "But I'm just a humble knight, and I'd like to stay that way. I don't think I should have the kind of power used by royals."

Eyes of deep red fixed on him intently. "You're perfectly worthy in my eyes, Silas."

Hearing this, warm affection filled him like air in his lungs. He appreciated her words. He truly did. However, he simply couldn't feel the same. "You may believe so, but the fact is that I don't have the same standing as you. I may be a noble but you are a princess." He spoke gently, not wanting to seem rude. He understood that she was making him the offer of a lifetime, and he did not take her generosity lightly. "If you wish to give dragon's blood to somebody, maybe your husband would be a better choice. After all, he became a prince by marrying you."

"I already offered to him. He refused, for much the same reason as you. Wanting to stay humble."

"Ah. So you can understand why I feel the same way as him?"

"I guess so." She pouted then. A surprisingly childish expression. Sometimes Silas was reminded of her tendencies to be naive, owing to her sheltered upbringing. Or perhaps that was just part of her own personality. She added, "Oh, and he also said that he didn't want me to injure myself, and that he found the idea of drinking my blood to be super creepy."

"Oh." Silas hadn't thought of that part. "I'm inclined to agree with him on that."

"Are you truly worried about me? I'm a soldier! I've been in war! Putting a small cut on myself is nothing."

"Don't say that. You're royalty. And you can transform into a dragon, just like the figures from legends about the gods! Because of that, the people of both kingdoms see you as a divine being. Every drop of your blood is precious."

Quietly, she shook her head, but she didn't argue the point further. She was disbelieving toward many of the lofty stories told about her, but she did know what it felt like to be concerned for a loved one.

There was another pause in the conversation. And then Corrin spoke again. "Silas, I don't mind if you refuse my offer, but . . . you are refusing for exactly the reason you stated, right? It's not because . . . it's not because you're actually avoiding ties to Hoshido? Or to me?"

"No! Of course not!" It surprised him that she even thought of that. "My loyalty to you will last for a lifetime. I have not even a shadow of doubt about that. If you asked me to commit to you until my dying days, I would say yes in a heartbeat and never regret it."

 _And_ , he added in his head, _I do not need dragon blood within me to reinforce my ties to you. I am already as loyal as one can be._

This talk with Corrin was clearing up the fog of the past, making Silas remember more of the old stories he'd heard about King Garon. Now he could recall how the rest of the events played out. As told through castle rumors, there was the king's rage after Gunter refused the offer of dragon blood. There were the terrible consequences for Gunter's home village and family afterwards . . . It made Silas's skin feel cold, to remember the horrors he'd heard.

But he knew that Corrin was not like the late Nohrian king at all. He knew the depth of her kindness. Even if he refused a fantastic offer from her, as he was doing today, she would not grow resentful or retaliate in fury. And that knowledge about her, ironically enough, caused him to be more devoted to her than King Garon's servants ever were to him, bound as they were by the chains of obligation or fear of their imposing king.

"I suppose," Corrin said, after a bout of contemplation, "that it was silly of me to ask that question. You already proved your loyalty to me when we were children, and again when you fought by my side through the war. I should not have doubted your dedication."

"Thank you, Corrin. I'm glad to hear that. And I should also say, I am not afraid to link myself to you or to Hoshido. Even though the two kingdoms warred in the past, we are at peace now. If I'm connected to Hoshido, it won't make me less of a Nohrian."

A sunny smile broke out over her face. "You really are as compassionate as I thought, aren't you? Your reasons for refusing the dragon blood – it's truly because you fear abusing that power. But don't you see, that's exactly why I would trust you with it. I know that you would not devolve into a mere tool of war."

It surprised him that she was still pressing the offer. He rubbed his neck with his hand and searched for a response. _I'm a soldier. Aren't I already a tool of war?_ But that's not what she meant, he guessed. The pretty images she probably had in her mind involved him using the Dragon Vein powers for good. For the benefit of many. Silas, however, found that notion harder to imagine. He did not count himself an expert on history, but he at least knew the origin of why certain families could tap into Dragon Veins. That ability was bestowed upon humans by the first dragons for the express purpose of waging war. And he had seen that power's destructive nature in action plenty of times during the most recent one.

And yet, he knew it was not wholly malicious. Not all the time. It could be used to bring rainfall to a parched land, for instance, or to create healing tiles on the ground. He knew that, and he tried to envision that side of it.

"Silas?" Corrin said, gently poking into his thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

"Um . . ." For a few moments he imagined pressing his palms to the ground, as he had witnessed the royals do on many occasions. What it must feel like, to have that rush of power flow through one's body. He saw mountains moving before him, fires appearing from air – and it all made him shiver. "I can't accept it, Corrin. I'm sorry to decline your offer, but I just can't. Even if you believe it would turn out well, everything within me tells me that it's not my right to wield that power."

The thought of commanding such divine strength – it caused fear to hover like a raincloud over his head. There was a dragon princess sitting right in front of him, who believed him worthy of such immense power. There was his best friend right there, who believed him a good enough person that being granted power would not chill his heart. And yet, as she looked at him and held his gaze steadily, he sensed that she could see the conviction in his eyes. She saw that he remained unwilling to take even a chance upon that unimaginable life.

"All right," at last she said. She spoke with weight in her words, the gravity befitting a noble princess. "It remains a standing offer. You may come back to me and ask for it at any time. I would trust you with it. But, even as I say this, I have the strong feeling that you're not going to change your mind. And . . . that's fine. That's the mark of your kindness and part of what makes you yourself. So. Thank you for everything, Silas. Please, no matter what, whether we remain strong or grow weak, continue to be a loyal knight and a good friend at my side."

END


End file.
